Sales were were up 13 percent from this time a year ago, according to sales tracker Autodata, which put the pace of sales at an annual rate of just under 15 million vehicles. That easily topped most forecasts and was even better than the spike in sales caused by the government's "Cash for Clunkers" program three years ago.

The last time sales reached this level was February 2008, before gas prices surged and the financial meltdown caused a deep, sustained drop in auto sales, according to CNNMoney.

General Motors reported only a 1.5 percent increase in sales from year-ago levels on Tuesday, while Ford Motor sales slipped 0.1 percent. Both results were a bit below forecast.

But Chrysler Group reported sales jumped 12 percent from a year earlier. Toyota Motor reported sales surged 41.5 percent from year-ago levels, while Honda Motor posted a 30.9 percent jump in sales. A year ago both automakers were struggling with limited supplies of vehicles due to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.